Antwerp

The port of Antwerp handled 156.5m tonnes of freight through the first nine months of 2015, up 5.5 per cent on the same period last year.

According to the port authority, steady growth in the volume of container freight (up 8.0 per cent in TEU and 5.4 per cent in tonnage) and of liquid bulk (up 7.9 per cent) means that Antwerp is poised to close the year with a total volume of 200m tonnes.

Container volumes rose during the first nine months by 8.0 per cent or 7.26 TEUs. In terms of tonnage the volume came to 85.5m tonnes, with 'Antwerp winning market share on all trading routes', according to the port.

'Even in the Asian trade the port managed to close the first nine months of 2015 with growth of 6.2 per cent, which is all the more remarkable in view of the declining volumes on the trading routes to and from the Far East,' the group added.